Description:This course explores social justice dimensions of today’s globalized food system and considers sustainability in terms of social, in addition to environmental indicators. We develop an understanding of the food system that includes farmers and agroecological systems; farm and industry workers; business owners and policymakers, as well as all who consume food. Based on this understanding, we examine how phenomena such as racism, gender discrimination, and structural violence surface within the food system in United States and globally, drawing examples from such diverse sectors as agriculture, labor, public health, and international policy. We discuss conceptual frameworks—such as food justice and food sovereignty—that farmers, activists, critical food scholars, humanitarian agencies, and policy makers are using to create food systems that are both sustainable and just. We also investigate how current ideological debates about the intersections of food, agriculture, and social justice shape policy making and activism at multiple scales. Throughout the semester we explore our own position(s) as university-based stakeholders in the food system. Students are encouraged to integrate aspects of their own scholarly and/or activist projects into one or more course assignments.